need help fast

S

strangebrew

Active member
im doing a music video and the band is asking alot from me and im not sure how to do some of the things. for example they want a story with two parell situations ex. man trips on curb= man trips on root, man walks througha crowd= man walks through brush, they want it to blend into eachother as one continuos motion. is this done through careful framing or is it a photoshop trick done with layers. please i need help hope someone has a answer thanks a ton...
 
like the commercials where they walk from room-to-room and the surroundings change?
or like the other one with the SUV and as they move around again the surroundings and sometimes wardrobe change?
 
yes like room to room he trips on a root and half way through the shoot the sorrounding turn into the city and he had triped over a curb
 
There are a couple ways to do this:

(1) The way I would do, if possible, is by using a green screen that way the background will change but the person will not
also, try to grade/color correct each differently that way it is not obvious that you are using a green screen. If you need help email me at discoveryfilmz@yahoo.com

(2) You can also plan it out very carefully, you could take one shot and before the next one you should review the pose the actor should be in (try to get it as close as possible for it to look better) this one is pretty difficult, but if you really plan it out it and you get it to work it looks 100% better (and alot more realistic, obviously, then the first way)

(3) This way is the hardest, but by far the most effective and also it does not take as careful planning in the time that you you are shooting (and saves alot of time) What you have to do for this one is just take your shot normal (but still keep in mind that you want the scenes to go one to another) then in the post production you have to follow these steps to make is work:
  • First, bring the clips into your editing software, and cut the clips as close as you can to making it look good
  • Then, go into photoshop and take about 10 frames from the end of first clip and 10 frames from the beginning of the second clip (the more you do the better it look- i suggest don't go past 20, I usually do 5-15 depending on how serious the project is) and import them as seperate pictures
  • Next, blue screen out everything in all the clips except for the main actor (if you need to paint in any body parts in by all means do it or it will look really ackward)
  • So now you have about 10-30 clips that are easily put into any chromakey software and you can add in any backward
  • Now the most imporant part is to get a image of the shot without the actor (after you are done shooting the shot quickly remove the actor and take a couple of seconds with out him/her)
  • Now what you have to do is take the blue screen images and put them together in you editing program to form a very short video clip (if you have to edited the images at all in photoshop to make them flow better then do it)
  • Take one of your blank background shot and chromakey/bluescreen this clip in so that you have the transation of the shots before you actually switch the background that way the shot flows in to the next one (also be aware that it may be obvious in the clip right before it changes from scene to scene so if you are go with photoshop you may want to make the clips more flowing/ alike)
  • Now grade or color correct each scene differently so that it is less obvious that you are using special effects (you want to make it flow)
Good luck!!! I hope these ideas work for you. I suggest that you runs a couple test to get familiar with these effects. I also suggest you using idea 2 and 3 together to really make it believable. Remember to get blank shot of the background without the actor, and if these ideas don't work for you, you will just of to try to discover a new way (I will do some test for you to get some new ideas) I am only 13 so I don't have that much experience, but do do things like this alot so I have some idea. If you don't have a green screen you can use a solid wall or somethig (just make sure that the wall is not close to skin tone and the color of clothes you are wearing. One again good luck!!!
M.A.D
 
wow. they might be asking alot of you if this isnt a well paying gig, but it can be pulled off without too much hassle or high tech wizerdry so its nice that it IS actually doable on a lower budget as well. nice ideas mentioned earlier i see. anyhow aside from that, your likely looking at either doing alot of greenscreen work and match lighting which is going to cause you some extra fatigue based on the fact that your not just changing a background, but your changing an entire surrounding with multiple foreground elements, and such. basically you would have to do a greenscreen (GS) shot with your main character, and also do one with any foreground elements youd like to change or later erase in mid shot. so for example youd set up your crowd shot with only half a crowd. only the people that are going to be BEHIND the main charachter are actually shot in the real location, then you setup match lighting and GS the main chtr in in front of the first shot, and then GS a third layer in with the same matched lighting which includes everyone who is in between the main chtr and the camera. then you can do the same with your next location, and simply switch the background for the real bushes and such, and in the foreground youd have to GS some more forestry in. the GS shot of the main charachter would have to be one continuous shot planning ahead for the change in the surroundings. so they are going to walk along and act like thier surroundings just changed and you swap the footage.


the other low tech way to do such a thing would be through some creative framing and some movement matching/blending. in this case youd actually shoot both scenes just as you want to see them, and work all your magic around the actual cut between the two. if the surroundings can seemingly instantly change as the main chtr is doing their thing, you can have them make the same movements in the end of one shot as they do in the beginning of the next, and then dissolve/blend between the shots. of course this is going to look better with faster movement of the main character being blended, and a pretty quick change of surroundings. id get in tight and have the shot composed mostly of something which you can control like the downward movement of the main chtrs head as he trips or something. the shot gets in tighter and all we see is his head going down in a blur .. this is when we dissolve between one shot to the next. the good thing about the movement being blurry is your going to have an easier time of dissolving between one shot to the next when people will not notice a subtle change in the position of things. so anyway during the tight shot of the quick head move(or whatever) the shots are blended for a quick change and viola.. he pulls his head up in a new surrounding in seemingly a continuos shot. in this case you likely wouldnt have to match the lighting nearly as much either.

third case scenario. you eat so many gummy bears that you just ralph all over the set the day of the shoot.. i really dont know what this would accomplish for your film career, but it might get a few laughs.


..anyhow, heres a quick and dirty example of scenario #2 which basically shows you how it looks. notice how smooth the blank wheel is rolling :) ..unfortunately contrasted by my shaking handheld tracking.

www.rowecine.com/matchmovement.wmv
 
sorry i haven't replied i went out of town for awhile and just haven't had the chance to get on here and thank you guys, i fell like a jerk but thank you so much the suggestion are great and im going out this weekend to shot and try a few out. i had a few lil question you might be able to help me with though i don't have photoshop you know where i can get a version for a decent price? i got motion 2 will this work with photoshop or do i need aftereffects (i was planing on morphing trees and builds toghter)? once again thank you so much you been so much help
 
M.A.D said:
(3) This way is the hardest, but by far the most effective and also it does not take as careful planning in the time that you you are shooting (and saves alot of time) What you have to do for this one is just take your shot normal (but still keep in mind that you want the scenes to go one to another) then in the post production you have to follow these steps to make is work:
  • First, bring the clips into your editing software, and cut the clips as close as you can to making it look good
  • Then, go into photoshop and take about 10 frames from the end of first clip and 10 frames from the beginning of the second clip (the more you do the better it look- i suggest don't go past 20, I usually do 5-15 depending on how serious the project is) and import them as seperate pictures
  • Next, blue screen out everything in all the clips except for the main actor (if you need to paint in any body parts in by all means do it or it will look really ackward)
  • So now you have about 10-30 clips that are easily put into any chromakey software and you can add in any backward
  • Now the most imporant part is to get a image of the shot without the actor (after you are done shooting the shot quickly remove the actor and take a couple of seconds with out him/her)
  • Now what you have to do is take the blue screen images and put them together in you editing program to form a very short video clip (if you have to edited the images at all in photoshop to make them flow better then do it)
  • Take one of your blank background shot and chromakey/bluescreen this clip in so that you have the transation of the shots before you actually switch the background that way the shot flows in to the next one (also be aware that it may be obvious in the clip right before it changes from scene to scene so if you are go with photoshop you may want to make the clips more flowing/ alike)
  • Now grade or color correct each scene differently so that it is less obvious that you are using special effects (you want to make it flow)
Click to expand...
There is a much easier way to accomplish this without exporting frames to Photoshop to "bluescreen" them. First off, if you wanted to make changes after you painted everything out you would have to go back into PS and then re-export them. Also, by exporting to Photoshop and reimporting back into your NLE is going to cost you resolution, albeit just a little.

The technique he described above is basically rotoscoping. This is where you trace out the object you want and create a mask that leaves just that object. It's much easier to do a shot like this in After Effects, or an equivalent software. In AE you can draw your masks and then preview the transition between the two scenes right there in front of you, without all that Photoshop mess. If you are going to use PS, then I would just create a mask in there and then use that mask to cut out your person.
 
I can suggest they easier and guaranteed way to avoid making those complex effects: Raise the budget if it is a paid one, and they'll stop asking diamonds & pearls.
 
M.A.D said:
this is a good example of what he is talking about with greenscreen

1.green screen version

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pZzIwGRLz9Y&search=awesome%20green%20screen%20work

2. finish version

http://youtube.com/watch?v=nRP-c-Sf53Y&search=awesome%20green%20screen%20work

This is pretty cool
just do something while they are both loading:)
</IMG>
Click to expand...


Dude, If you made that, awesome! I've seen that on TV before! How cool is that!? I know, pretty cool.

Anyways, sweet. I have a question. In the video without the chroma key it was really obvious to see where the cuts were - how did you get them to flow so evenly?

z
 
i didn't make that
i just found it online, but howthe did this was by blocking the camera from see the subject during the transition (ex. coat, bright or dark lighting) and while this is happening they just add a quick cross disolve
watch it again to see what I mean
M.A.D
 
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